


Swan Song: Between Here and There

by letmegeekatyou



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:37:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1201552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letmegeekatyou/pseuds/letmegeekatyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fills in the missing time in Swan Song, between Detroit and Stull Cemetery, from Cas's point of view.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swan Song: Between Here and There

Apocalypse is a human word, from a Greek root meaning “to uncover” or “to reveal.”

Castiel thinks about this as they stand on the sidewalk in Detroit, watching the destruction on the television. The angels have been revealed to him for what they are, vain and selfish. Their father would be ashamed, he thinks. He hopes. But what does it reveal about humanity, he wonders, all the death and chaos and fear? He watches them flee, stumbling, pixelated on the screens. How can they not know? How can they not recognize the futility? Why do they scream when there is no one to save them?

He can see Dean’s own desperation, his denial of the inevitable. Castiel doesn’t really mind the insults Dean throws at him. He only wishes Dean could see that he has lost, that they have all lost. That the only choice left is whether to die drunk or sober, and that to keep kicking at the monster devouring them will only cause more pain. He finds himself thinking, for the first time, really, about death, wondering, now that it is upon him, how he is going to die.

When Dean insists on calling Chuck, insists on making one last stand, Castiel knows it’s useless. But if he has any family left, any place to call home now that Heaven is closed to him, it is here. So he stops Dean before he can drive off alone, because Sam is going to die, and Dean isn’t going to let him die alone, and Cas can’t let Dean face that alone.

They soon lose the radio to static, whether because of a weak signal or something worse Castiel isn’t sure, but Dean doesn’t reach for a cassette. He realizes that Dean doesn’t hear the static, that he hasn’t been listening at all, that he is miles away. After a moment, Castiel reaches over, takes one of Dean’s hands from the steering wheel and holds it in his own, letting their linked hands rest between them.

If Dean is startled or uncomfortable, he doesn’t show it. He just lets Cas hold his hand as white noise and the sound of the tires on the road wash over them. Castiel is beginning to wonder if Dean has even noticed, or if he is too far away, when Dean gives his hand a squeeze and laces their fingers together.

Just like that, Cas feels a knot growing in his stomach. He feels suddenly how far they are from Sam, how far from any kind of hope or help. He feels his muscles tense, leans slightly forward as if he can increase their speed by the mere force of his will. This is the apocalypse, Cas thinks. This is where we are all revealed for what we are. 

And this is how he wants to die, he realizes, by Dean’s side, in this fight. Not letting the beast devour him but fighting against it every inch of the way, because there are things worth fighting for even when there is no hope. Things like the righteous, beautiful man beside him and his brave brother, fighting even now to take the devil down.

They drive all night like that, hands wrapped together between them, Bobby following. A few hours from Stull Cemetery, with a grey sun just starting to cut through the mist, Cas finally speaks.

"If we’re going to fight," he says, and then Dean finally looks at him, surprise and gratitude in his eyes, "we’re going to need a plan."

Dean nods and squeezes his hand one more time, then puts both hands on the steering wheel and eases the Impala onto the shoulder. Bobby pulls in behind them, gets out and starts to walk over.

"Do me a favor, Cas. Grab the Def Leppard out of the glove box."

"I…I don’t know what that means."

"Boy, are we stopping for a picnic?" Bobby leans down into the Impala window with an incredulous look on his face.

"No, Bobby, we’re having a war council, and we don’t have much time."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at http://sammysalive.tumblr.com/post/74675000856/swan-song-missing-scene


End file.
